The top 12 wines we enjoyed this week!

I’ve mostly been tasting at home this week, my favourite place to enjoy good wine. Drew, on the other hand, had his first experience tasting wine at the Systembolaget, Sweden’s government run alcohol bureaucracy. If you live in Sweden all alcohol is controlled through the Systembolaget from wholesale purchase right down to the liquor stores. As they state, they exist for one reason: To minimize alcohol-related problems by selling alcohol in a responsible way, without profit motive.

If you’re a wine writer like Drew, you officially can only taste wine at the events put on by the Systembolaget. The one benefit though is that the agency does invite wine writers to taste every single wine that is sold in Sweden. Now there’s the fun bit!

We’d love to hear about the wine you’ve enjoyed this week in the comments below.

Here’s our top 12 wine experiences for the week –

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It's #fish and #chips tonight with a perfectly citrusy and crisp #Semillon #SauvignonBlanc from #Denmark in #WesternAustralia by @SinglefileWine. Post by #Conrad. #wine #vino #vin #food #fun #travel #winelover #wineoclock #whitewine #winewankers #goodfriday #postbyconrad

A post shared by The Wine Wankers 🍾🤛🎉🥂 (@winewankers) on Mar 25, 2016 at 2:49am PDT

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Test driving my new Oaked Chardonnay Riedel wine glasses out with this tasty great value Chilean Chardonnay from #marquesdecasaconcha. Don't just reserve your best wine glasses for expensive wines, throw the good value #wine in there as well. You'll take them to a whole new level. Post by Drew #winewankers #winelover #vino #vin @riedelaustralianz @aquabumps

A post shared by The Wine Wankers 🍾🤛🎉🥂 (@winewankers) on Mar 27, 2016 at 12:22pm PDT

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A lazy #Easter #Sunday afternoon snacking on traditional @winewankers goodies while we wash it all down with a few delicious wines including this fresh, fragrant and easy drinking dry #Gewurztraminer by The Vintner's Daughter from near #Canberra. Post by #Conrad. #wine #vino #vin #food #fun #winelover #wineoclock #whitewine #winewankers #postbyconrad

A post shared by The Wine Wankers 🍾🤛🎉🥂 (@winewankers) on Mar 27, 2016 at 1:28am PDT

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To everyone in Australia, the temperature in Stockholm is freezing! But for the people who live here, when it's 5° and the sun is shining, it's cause for celebration! Let's break out a rosé from Provence. Everyone drinks it at this time of year. Post by Drew #wine #winewankers #winelover #vin #vino #cuveemadame

A post shared by The Wine Wankers 🍾🤛🎉🥂 (@winewankers) on Mar 28, 2016 at 4:34pm PDT

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I got to taste some great #pinot recently at the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival's #Oregon pinot tasting. Both these #wine by Stoller had an underlying delicious spice and herbal notes with the Reserve cranking the complexity up a notch. Post by #Conrad. #mfwf #vino #vin #food #fun #travel #winelover #wineoclock #redwine #winewankers #wwontour #wwmfwftrip #postbyconrad

A post shared by The Wine Wankers 🍾🤛🎉🥂 (@winewankers) on Mar 22, 2016 at 3:38am PDT

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Is it ok to drink a glass of wine for brunch or is it too early? The gravlax and poached eggs with beetroot stained creme fraiche was a much better pairing to the house wine than a Bloody Mary or Mimosa! Thoughts??? Post by Drew. #winewankers #winelover #vino #vin #wine

A post shared by The Wine Wankers 🍾🤛🎉🥂 (@winewankers) on Mar 29, 2016 at 9:00am PDT

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Got to sample some good #wine recently by @bullerwines in their vineyards at their winery in #Rutherglen, north east #Victoria. The #Prosecco was lovely and fresh, the #Cinsault was well rounded and soft and the #Shiraz was a full flavored power machine. Yum stuff! #tastes2016 #tasteofrutherglen #vino #vin #food #fun #travel #winelover #wineoclock #redwine #whitewine #champagne #bubbles #bubbly #winewankers #wwontour #wwrutherglentrip #postbyconrad

A post shared by The Wine Wankers 🍾🤛🎉🥂 (@winewankers) on Mar 27, 2016 at 9:15pm PDT

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If you're a wine writer – living in Sweden is a completely new experience. The government has a monopoly on alcohol sales, which means you can only buy from one bottle shop – @systembolaget . They also control official wine writer tastings – where EVERYTHING that is sold in Sweden gets tasted through the year. My palate is about to become truly educated! I fell in love with this delicious #sancerre yesterday from @domaine_henri_bourgeois – light and lemony, with crisp apple and straw flavours. Get ready for a lot more European and International wines from the #WineWankers ! Post by Drew

A post shared by The Wine Wankers 🍾🤛🎉🥂 (@winewankers) on Mar 31, 2016 at 2:57pm PDT

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Lemon and chilli zucchini #pasta for our #vegetarian guest with a side of #BBQ chicken for the rest of us all washed down with an enjoyable easy drinking #Merlot by #Artiste out of #EdenValley. I've noticed before that the softness of Merlot sits well with chilli dishes. Post by #Conrad. #wine #vino #vin #food #fun #winelover #wineoclock #redwine #winewankers #postbyconrad

A post shared by The Wine Wankers 🍾🤛🎉🥂 (@winewankers) on Mar 29, 2016 at 7:48pm PDT

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I went crazy for the @fonsecaport 2003 vintage port yesterday at the #systembolaget tasting in Stockholm. Think rich cherry/ berry trifle steeped in heavenly cognac. Yes, it is that good! Post by Drew #WineWankers #port #portugal #porto @visitstockholm #fonsecaport

A post shared by The Wine Wankers 🍾🤛🎉🥂 (@winewankers) on Apr 1, 2016 at 7:20am PDT

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This! Yum!! Paired recently with various vintages of grey and black label #WolfBlass #wine. Classics! Post by #Conrad. #postbyconrad

A post shared by The Wine Wankers 🍾🤛🎉🥂 (@winewankers) on Mar 22, 2016 at 7:27pm PDT

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Tonight it's a deliciously peppery and savory #Tasmanian #pinotnoir by @CapeBernier from the south eastern coast of #Tasmania. I keep going back for more with this one. It's got equally enjoyable fruit to balance the spice. Yum #wine! Post by #Conrad. #vino #vin #winelover #wineoclock #redwine #winewankers #postbyconrad

A post shared by The Wine Wankers 🍾🤛🎉🥂 (@winewankers) on Mar 31, 2016 at 1:06am PDT

6 comments

Duff's Wines says:

April 2, 2016 at 9:24 am

Stoller is a beast. In Canada we drink pink any time. If we don’t we might miss it all together. #shortsummer

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Mr. Militant Negro says:

April 2, 2016 at 9:26 am

Reblogged this on The Militant Negro™.

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Lynette d'Arty-Cross says:

April 3, 2016 at 1:56 am

Desert Hills Rose – Oliver, British Columbia.

Love these posts. 🙂

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cynthiamvoss says:

April 3, 2016 at 11:07 pm

I love your Easter spread! Looks like a lovely afternoon. Also, that rosé looks delicious!

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Life in Lipstick says:

April 4, 2016 at 11:23 pm

Thanks for the recent like on my wine & paint post, love your blog! Follow for follow?

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reocochran says:

April 26, 2016 at 8:01 am

I like sweeter wines so the prosecco and the port would be nice with dessert. Pinot Noir either white or red sounds great with dinner, depending on the entree. Thanks for being around my blog lately! Have you ever tried Pink Catawba wine from Ohio catawba grapes, (I think~ ha ha!)
I have been making a lot of whole wheat pasta with fresh vegetables (zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes. . . ) and onions, with red wine vinegar and a little olive oil. Like a more filling version of a salad!

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